“World Prematurity Day “- KIDROP, world’s first telemedicine -based ROP diagnostic programme, tailored for rural areas by Narayana Nethralaya

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Bangalore:  November 17 is annually observed as World Prematurity Day. Today we look at Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) in India – an eye disease that could cause blindness in premature babies, and how Narayana Nethralaya (NN) has helped save thousands of babies from going blind with its unique KIDROP programme.

Some facts on Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)

*In India 3.5 million babies are born prematurely; that’s the highest number of pre-term babies born to any country annually the world over.
*Anywhere between 27 to 54 per cent of these babies who weigh less than 2 kilos will get ROP. The disease burden is largest in countries like India.
*Of them, around 5 to 15 per cent will require treatment, which means nearly 1.5 lakh to 2.5 lakh pre-term babies in India require ROP treatment annually.
*A newborn needs 3 to 5 screenings, two to three weeks apart, to come out of the danger zone.

  • The first screening must be done before the child is 4 weeks old and requires a specialist to do so
    *Laser-based treatment is the standard procedure; injections are used sparingly
    *India is also home to an aggressive variant of ROP called A-ROP.

KIDROP telemedicine programme in Karnataka

The KIDROP programme launched by NN has completed 14 years. KIDROP is the first telemedicine-based ROP diagnostic programme in India, and the world, tailored for rural areas. “We have performed over 2 lakh newborn screening sessions till date, and more than 3000 babies have been treated and blindness prevented, across 127 neonatal centers spread over every district in Karnataka. This is the single largest ROP cohort in the world that includes government district hospitals, private neonatal units and medical college hospitals as well,” says Dr Anand Vinekar, Professor & Head of Department of the Pediatric Retina Service at Narayana Nethralaya Eye Institute, and the founding Programme Director of KIDROP.

Since 2008, all premature babies born and screened at Government hospitals in Karnataka have been treated free of cost in the KIDROP programme.

The programme has won several national and international awards. The programme has been cited by UNDP, Niti Ayog, Harvard Business Review, IIM A & B and validated on the CDC Guidelines. It has been the role model later followed by several states in India, as well as some nations around the world.

ROP screening was conventionally a physical examination of the eyes of preemies done by a retina specialist in the NICU (neonatal ICU), but KIDROP made the reach of doctors far more widespread through telemedicine. KIDROP uses wide-field imaging cameras for the eye examination. The success of KIDROP has hinged on how we allow skill transfer from ROP specialists (very few in India) to technicians and paramedics who can take these images using the camera.

How KIDROP overcame challenges of the COVID pandemic

Through KIDROP, pre-pandemic around 2,500 to 3,000 online screening sessions were conducted per month; during the first wave of the pandemic it dropped to about 600. It must be noted that during the COVID pandemic, specially in 2020, most ROP screening centers across the world (and India) found it difficult to continue screening due to lockdowns and restrictions. But KIDROP continued and even treated newborns in the rural areas using a very successful strategy. The number of new babies screened did not drop in 2020, when compared to 2019, making it a unique success story. During the peak of the pandemic, it was a challenge as special permissions had to be sought from the police and magistrates to shift babies across hospitals for treatment, as some of the Government hospitals had been converted into Covid-only centres.

“But post-pandemic, now the average has again risen to upwards of 2,000 screenings and fortunately we have gone back to a ‘near- normal’ in most districts now,” says Dr Anand.

NN also started developing in 2014 a “Make in India” camera specially for this telemedicine-based eye examination, supported by the Department of Biotechnology. In 2016 Bengaluru-based Forus Health started manufacturing this camera “3Netra Neo”, costing between Rs. 12 to 15 lakh, replacing the American version (till then the only such camera available in the world) which costs over Rs. 85 lakh. This further contributed to making the programme implementable in more number of health centres at a fraction of the cost. Right now, over 200 such Made In India cameras are being used all over the world.

NN is also in advanced stage of research testing (initial scientific paper already published) that will in the near future enable doctors, with the help of a specially developed kit, to test the tears of premature babies during their first screening, and use it as a risk prognostic tool to predict which babies will get the disease in future. NN is the first hospital in the world to develop this method. In 2018 NN won an award for this research.

At present, Narayana Nethralaya is mentoring over 7 other Indian states to implement a similar programme all over the country, on an ad hoc basis

For more information, please contact:
Dr Anand Vinekar
Founding Programme Director of KIDROP
M: 9980816248

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RAVI AGGARWAL HAS BEEN APPOINTED AS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER BY MEDALL.

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To drive organizational transformation, product & business development, and partnerships

Bangalore, November 17, 2021: In line with the organizational transformation Medall Healthcare Pvt Ltd has undertaken with its new brand identity and a new tagline, ‘experts who care’ coupled with an aggressive expansion plan, the integrated diagnostics leader recently announced the appointment of Ravi Aggarwal as its Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Ravi Aggarwal will be primarily responsible for driving the growth/expansion plans of Medall which includes both the top-line and bottom-line growth. He will also be overseeing all Sales, Marketing, Franchisee Operations, Lab operations, customer operations, infrastructure, and procurement.
Commenting on Ravi joining Medall, Arjun Ananth, CEO, Medall, said, “Ravi Aggarwal joins Medall at a time when the brand has embarked on a transformation journey with its aggressive growth and expansion plans including separate divisions soglely focused on corporate wellness and speciality tests. Ravi’s appointment reflects our strategy and desire to accelerate our growth. With a host of new initiatives planned over the next 12-18 months, Ravi will play a crucial role in driving this to fruition and taking brand Medall to its next growth trajectory”.

Ravi Aggarwal, COO, Medall says, “I am very excited to embark on this new journey and humbled by the trust the organization has placed in me. With the COVID-19 pandemic putting the spotlight on healthcare, more so preventive healthcare, Medall with its pedigree of high-quality service and new brand identity is at the right place at the right time to catapult itself into becoming the most trusted one-stop shop for all health & wellness needs of consumers. I look forward to working with all stakeholders and making a meaningful difference to the vision Medall has chalked out”

Ravi brings more than two decades of rich experience across some of the renowned healthcare brands like Ranbaxy, Merck, Elder Healthcare, MSD Pharmaceuticals and Pathkind Labs. Ravi Aggarwal joins Medall from SRL Diagnostics where he was the COO for South, West, Central India and International Business.

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“Our vision is to see Indians from all over the country take part in painting on a day which will be celebrated as Colorothon Day,” said Kishore Joseph,

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Date 15th November 2021
Colorothon Season-13, India’s largest Online Painting Event

• The largest painting festival that has seen the participation of over 1 lakh people across the country including cities like New Delhi, Lucknow, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. This season it will be the entire nation.

• 1 lakh participation expected this season
Bengalueu 15th November 2021 : Colorothon – Draw your imagination is a joint initiative by Breathe Entertainment and KidsChaupal, which aims to rekindle the joy of painting and capturing one’s imagination on paper as creatively as possible. It offers an escape for children and teenagers from the monotonous routine of academics. Additionally, the event will be appreciated by Exclusive World Records for the greatest number of people painting online of this age category. Contest entries begin on Children’s Day, 14th November, and the submissions will be uploaded on the KidsChaupal app.
The first twelve seasons of Colorothon, as is popularly known, were held offline. The pandemic threatened to dampen artists’ spirits this year, but KidsChaupal stepped in and offered to host the event online at an even greater scale. Tisya Singh, a 15-year-old multi-talented artist, and performer, the Brand Ambassador of KidsChaupal will be the face of Colorothon this year. The co-founders of KidsChaupal, Mr. Dhiraj Singh, Mr. Ashish Srivastava, and Mr. Devendra Jaiswal have envisioned a pan India event for kids to unleash their creative juices. By eliminating the hurdle of distance, their app will allow children from all over the country to participate in the event.

“Our vision is to see Indians from all over the country take part in painting on a day which will be celebrated as Colorothon Day,” said Kishore Joseph, Founder Trustee of Colorothon.
The top three hundred paintings will be donated to Colorothon’s charity partner. The top two hundred paintings in each category will be available for purchase on shop.kidschaupal.com for our young talents to become entrepreneurs.
With its largest turnout this year, the event will be the culmination of young creative geniuses that will encourage and remind people that a life without creativity and art can never be colourful.
Event Note:
• Entry free
• Duration – Starting from Children’s Day, November 14th, till December 15th
• Three different age categories – Art Treat (LKG to 2nd GRADE); All About Shades (3rd to 7th GRADE); Creative Streak (8th to 12th GRADE)
• Mode of submission: Any of the A3/A4 drawing sheet or Canvas
• E- certificate for every submission, appreciated by Exclusive World record.
• 600 Best paintings (200 in each category) will be chosen for the auction at KidsChaupal e-commerce website- shop.kidschaupal.com
• 15 best paintings (5 in each category) chosen by the prestigious judge panels will be rewarded during the Mega Event.
“We thank Quick Heal for coming on board as the security partner for Colorothon Season -13”
”For online registration log on to http://www.kidschaupal.com/talentbox/colorothon
https://youtu.be/wpTSz4komGY
To submit the entries download the KidsChaupal App

Colorothon, is the brainchild of Kishore Joseph, journalist, social entrepreneur, & brand manager, who holds multiple records, viz. the London World Record, Asia Book of Records, and India Book of Records for organizing the world’s largest open-air painting display exhibition, held at Vega City Mall, Bannerghatta Road, Bengaluru in Feb 2019, where over 10,000 paintings were drawn by amateurs and professionals including men, women, and children, from 5 year-olds to 90-year-old.

For media enquires call : + 91 9873162594, + 91 9845669757, +91 9483537475.

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Through the ‘Second Life’ Initiative, Aster Hospitals in India has committed to offering free surgery to 100 poor children.

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Launched on occasion of Children’s Day in India, as a part of Aster Volunteers Global CSR programme, ‘Second Life – Because Little Lives Matter’ will help at least 100 underprivileged children below 12 years over a period of a year by providing free paediatric surgeries

Bangalore, 15th November 2021:  On occasion of Children’s Day, Aster Hospitals in India, as a part of Aster Volunteers Global CSR initiative has launched the ‘Second Life- Because Little Lives Matter’ initiative. The yearlong initiative is aimed at supporting the medical treatment of disadvantaged children, where the initial aim is to help treat at least 100 children below the age of 12 years by providing free paediatric surgeries. The initiative extends help to deserving children who are being treated across Aster Hospitals based in 5 States in India.

This includes common childhood surgeries such as appendicitis, intussusception, empyema and paediatric urology surgeries as well as complex clinical surgeries including bone marrow transplant, liver transplants, heart surgeries, etc. Dr. Nitish Shetty, Regional Director, Aster Hospitals, Karnataka and Maharashtra Cluster, Mr. Farhan Yasin, Regional Director, Aster Hospitals – Kerala & Oman Cluster and Mr. Devanand KT, Regional CEO, Aster Hospitals – Telangana & Andhra Pradesh Cluster were present at the launch of the campaign in Bangalore, today.

The treatment will be funded by Aster DM Foundation or with the support of philanthropists / NGOs. A criterion has been established by the foundation to identify the eligibility of cases for the program; these will be assessed based on the socio- economic status and BPL category as well as the medical outcome of the child prior to commencement of selection and subsequent treatment. Furthermore, a 24X7 multi- lingual helpline number has been set up at Calicut to manage enquiries, the helpline can be accessed by dialing +91 9633620660.

Speaking on the initiative Dr. Azad Moopen,  Founder Chairman and Managing Director, Aster DM Healthcare said, “In India, where a significant segment of the population still remains below the poverty line, many families with an ailing child struggle to afford the advanced surgery needed to save the lives of their little ones. In most cases, paediatric organ transplants, bone-marrow transplant, cardiac surgeries or even common surgeries can not only give young children a second shot at a better life but also save an entire family from falling into the depths of despair. While our Aster Hospitals in India, based in the 5 States, have emerged as Centres of Excellence in advanced paediatric care and surgeries and our doctors have been known to set global benchmarks in advanced surgical interventions, we sincerely hope that with this effort, we are able to provide a second chance to young children to live their lives to the fullest and achieve their dreams.”

Dr. Nitish Shetty,  Regional Director, Aster Hospitals, Karnataka and Maharashtra Cluster added, “The launch of the Second Life Initiative is to structure a change that will eventually have a positive impact on the lives of disadvantaged children from a long-term perspective. We aim to leverage inherent and individual strengths of several of our hospitals to fulfil and deliver on these clinical interventions. At Aster, it is our motto to bring great healthcare within the reach of all individuals, our highly experienced experts at Aster Hospital’s will be dedicating a minimum 10% of their man hours to help these children and give them a well-deserved second chance at life”.

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ಶ್ರೀ ಶಿವಮೂರ್ತಿ ಮುರುಘ ಸ್ವಾಮೀಜಿಯವರ ಆಶೀರ್ವಾದ ಪಡೆದು ನ್ಯಾಷನಲ್ ಪೀಪಲ್ಸ್ ಪಾರ್ಟಿ ಮುಂಬರುವ ಬಿಬಿಎಂಪಿ ಚುನಾವಣೆ ಪ್ರಚಾರ ಅರಂಬ

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ಇಂದು 12ನೇ ಶತಮಾನದ ಬಸವ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾದಿ ಶರಣರು ಸ್ಥಾಪಿಸಿದ ಶೂನ್ಯಪೀಠ ಹಾಗೂ ಐತಿಹಾಸಿಕ ಶ್ರೀ ಜಗದ್ಗುರು ಮುರುಗ ರಾಜೇಂದ್ರ ಬೃಹನ್ಮಠ ಚಿತ್ರದುರ್ಗ ದಲ್ಲಿ ನ್ಯಾಷನಲ್ ಪೀಪಲ್ಸ್ ಪಾರ್ಟಿಯ ರಾಜ್ಯ ಪ್ರಧಾನ ಕಾರ್ಯದರ್ಶಿಗಳಾದ ಶ್ರೀ ಪ್ರಭು ಬಾಸ್ಕೋ ಅವರು ಭೇಟಿ ನೀಡಿ ಶ್ರೀ ಶಿವಮೂರ್ತಿ ಮುರುಘ ಸ್ವಾಮೀಜಿಯವರ ಆಶೀರ್ವಾದ ಪಡೆದು ಮುಂಬರುವ ಬಿಬಿಎಂಪಿ ಚುನಾವಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಹಿಳೆಯರಿಗೆ ಮತ್ತು ಯುವಕ-ಯುವತಿಯರಿಗೆ ಮೊದಲ ಆದ್ಯತೆಯನ್ನು ನೀಡಿ ನನ್ನ ಮತ ಮಾರಾಟಕ್ಕಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂಬ ಘೋಷಣೆಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ನ್ಯಾಷನಲ್ ಪೀಪಲ್ಸ್ ಪಾರ್ಟಿ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ವಾರ್ಡ್ ಗಳಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದೆ ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಿದರು.

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